The state/region in brief

LR man admitted killing, police told

Three witnesses told police that a Little Rock man charged with first-degree murder this week admitted to shooting the victim, according to a court affidavit.

“He needed to die,” Darrell Freeman Jr. told the witnesses after 20-year-old Bernard Sherrod was shot to death Monday, the affidavit says1.

Sherrod was found about 7:30 p.m. lying in the bushes at the Park Heights apartments, 1701 N. Bryant St. He had been shot in the right-shoulder area. Sherrod was taken to UAMS Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Witnesses told investigators that Sherrod and Freeman had spoken on the phone before the shooting.

The two met inside an apartment, where Sherrod was supposedly going to give Freeman some headphones. After a “very large scuffle,” the witnesses said, three shots were fired and a wounded Sherrod left the apartment and fell on the ground.

“He shot me, Momma,” Sherrod repeatedly said, according to witnesses.

Investigators found bullet casings and blood inside the apartment.

Freeman, 21, told witnesses that Sherrod had tried to steal his guns and stab him, the affidavit says.

Freeman of 4224 Cobb St. surrendered to police Tuesday night. He was being held at the Pulaski County jail in lieu of a $250,000 bond late Wednesday.

  • ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTEEx-deputy charged in sex-assault case

After accusations surfaced that he sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl, a former Faulkner County sheriff’s deputy was arrested Wednesday.

Keith Rick, 24, surrendered to Conway police Wednesday morning and was charged with second-degree sexual assault.

He was released from the Faulkner County jail on a $50,000 bond.

Rick was fired from the sheriff’s office after the teen told police she had sexual contact with him March 4. Rick had offered to take the girl home from a friend’s house but drove her to his apartment at 4100 Raleigh Drive instead, according to a court affidavit.

Rick told investigators that he rubbed and touched the girl but did not have sex with her and didn’t know she was 14, the affidavit says.

Police reported that Rick and the girl communicated by cellphone that night.

Rick’s cellphone was seized as evidence.

He’s scheduled to appear in court May 5.

  • ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTETeacher sentenced in pupil sex assault

HARRISBURG - A Poinsett County Circuit Court jury convicted a former Trumann High School teacher Wednesday of sexually assaulting a 15-yearold former student and fathering her child.

Danny Shane Akers, 40, was convicted of one count of first-degree sexual assault and one count of fourth-degree sexual assault, said 2nd Judicial Circuit Prosecuting Attorney Scott Ellington.

Circuit Judge John Fogleman of Marion sentenced Akers to 25 years in the Arkansas Department of Correction and fined Akers $25,000.

“Teachers have a duty to protect children, not abuse them,” Ellington said in a news release. “This 15-yearold victim was vulnerable, and Danny Akers took advantage of her.”

Akers taught English at Trumann High School from 2007 until his resignation in 2012, when allegations surfaced that he fathered a child with the student.

Akers was arrested in February 2013.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys Jimmy Gazaway and David Boling tried the case. Akers was represented by Martin Lilly of Jonesboro.

“We’re obviously disappointed in the outcome,” Lilly said. “We will evaluate our options and make a decision [on whether to appeal] within the next week.” - ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

Coach: Innocent in girl’s rape, death

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - A southwest Missouri youth football coach accused of kidnapping, raping and killing a 10-year-old girl has pleaded innocent.

Craig Michael Wood, 46, appeared Thursday in Greene County Circuit Court in Springfield. A preliminary hearing scheduled for Thursday was delayed until May 22.

Wood is accused of abducting Hailey Owens while she walked home from her best friend’s house, just two blocks from her own home. Shocked neighbors reported watching the abduction and unsuccessfully giving chase as Hailey was pulled into a pickup that sped away. She was found dead hours later in the basement of Wood’s home.

The Springfield News-Leader reported that the judge granted a request made by prosecutors earlier this week to add rape and sodomy charges in response to recently released autopsy results.

  • THE ASSOCIATED PRESSDeath row pushed for Missouri mom

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Greene County prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty against a Springfield woman accused of killing her husband and son with antifreeze.

The Springfield News-Leader reported Prosecuting Attorney Dan Patterson filed a notice Wednesday saying he will seek the death penalty against Diane Staudte. Patterson did not file a similar notice for Staudte’s daughter, Rachel, who is charged with the same crimes.

Both are charged with first-degree murder for the 2012 deaths of Diane Staudte’s husband, Mark Staudte, and the couple’s 26-year-old son, Shaun. Another daughter also was poisoned but recovered.

Patterson’s filing says Diane Staudte qualified for the death penalty because she committed murder for financial gain and caused another person to commit murder and because the crime involved “torture, or depravity of mind.” - THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 10 on 04/25/2014

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